The Albanese government is under pressure to outline exactly how it is going to help customers exposed by the Optus data breach
In wake of the Optus data breach, the government is developing new data breach notification rules and it’s believed that a policy drafting process is underway.
Banks would be notified immediately if consumer data is breached as a result of company negligence, if the policy was adopted.
Apra, Australia’s financial regulator, has urged banks to increase their fraud protection immediately after a threat actor claiming to be behind the cyberattack posted online, they had released 10,000 customer records.
Multiple ministers must agree on the details in order to draft the rules as a whole-of-government response to the breach.
Banks are also paying close attention to the developing situation in order to prevent the stolen information from being used for deception.
Sources say a parliamentary review or inquiry into the Optus data leak is among the options being considered by the federal government and civil penalties under laws such as the Telecommunications Act are also being studied.
The Australian Banking Association says individual banks have been closely monitoring developments while Optus continues its investigations and works with authorities and other agencies.
Home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil says she wants to reassure Australians the full weight of cybersecurity capabilities across government, including the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Australian federal police are all working round the clock to respond to the data breach.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is demanding Optus foot the bill to issue new passports to hacked customers as telco’s parent company Singtel says is “deeply sorry”.
With increased focus on ConnectID and the use of two-factor identification banks are also urging customers to report suspicious activity immediately.
